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Herpes: detection of herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2
Last reviewed: 18.10.2021
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Recently, the detection of herpes simplex virus DNA 1 and 2 in the material from vesicles and ulcers of the skin or mucous membranes (including the conjunctiva of the eyes) has been used to diagnose herpetic infection by the PCR method (a very sensitive, specific and rapid diagnostic method). This method can be used to detect a virus in the cerebrospinal fluid. Negative PCR result does not allow to exclude herpetic infection, because due to the short reproductive cycle of the pathogen (in epithelial cells it is only 20 h), the material for the study can be taken too sooner or later. Positive PCR testifies only to the presence of the virus in the human body, but does not distinguish the carrier from the active infection.
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